Saturday, September 9, 2017

Foul Words in Young Adult: Do We Need Them?

Everyone can agree
that we all have a different opinion and world view, thus, a word I
might think wrong to say, someone else might say all the time,
seeing nothing wrong with it, and vise versa.

However, we can
also agree that everyone knows what a potty mouth is.

Yes. I'm talking
about that kid. That kid you know that can't say a single sentence
without making some mother walking by cringe. That kid you know who
has no filter. That kid who, if you're around young children, you
feel embarrassed of their behavior and loud words. Let's all be
honest, we all know this person. Maybe not well, maybe you've only
met them once at a party, or maybe they're your best friend, but
either way, this person is out there.

Now, picture a YA
book. Too often nowadays, YA books are turning into that person. I do
understand that everyone has a different view. And I do understand
that everyone has different boundaries.

And maybe I am more
sheltered.

Maybe I am just a
common homeschooler.

Maybe I'm naive.

But you know what?
Even if I am, it doesn't make this right.

Since forever,
words have reflected bits of truth. Words merely cage the truth of
our society, and they mirror the world we live in. It doesn't matter
what genre, bits and pieces of the author and their lives always,
always seep into the ink.
It is a sad world we live in, if the only way we know how to
describe our emotions is through four letter words.

Think
about it. Millions upon millions of words are
out there for us to use, but we can't figure out how to express
feelings any other way than through vile language.

Why
are more and more books encouraging this? I pick up a YA book off of
the library shelves, and am disappointed by the fact that the
character is too stupid to describe emotion beyond cuss
words. It teaches teens to
do the same. How are we suppose to learn how to speak with clarity
and intelligence, when the message we are constantly reading is that
the only way to communicate is this way?

In the end, smutty words don't make anyone cool.

You
can say that word?That's
cool, so can a five year
old.

You
can write that word? So can a
little kid,
if taught.

You
or your characters can flip me off?
Cute. So can anyone else, who is blessed with middle fingers.

Do you see how ridiculous this whole thing is? I am so sick and
tired of reading about supposedly “witty” and “sarcastic”
characters that only have enough brain cells to know how to swear.
And how “rough” characters are only rough because they can drop
the f-bomb.

Your
character is sarcastic?
Prove it. But not with a potty mouth. I want punchlines. I want
laughter and smirks. I want epic comebacks that I can read to my
siblings, while crying from laughing so hard. I want intelligence. I
want wit.

Your
character is rough? Show
me. Show me their scars, their skills. Show me their endurance, their
weakness, their strengths. Show me their souls,
because that is way harder to write than a swear word.

Writers, readers, and everyone,

When
did we start lowering our standards? This isn't how people are
suppose to write. There
isan
old writing rule most people know:
Show don't tell.

When I read a book that has swear words, it is the definition of too
much telling.

It
tells me that people care more about being obscene than clever.

It
tells me that readers and writers no longer know how to write
correctly-that their talent, that once flourished, is dying.

It tells me that people care more about money than morals.

It tells me that whoever wrote the book was too lazy to describe
feelings, so they cheated and stuck some foul words here and there.

Yes, I am angry. No, I am not ashamed of that fact. Writing is
dying. Emotions are dying. Words connect us, and they are being
squandered constantly. This must stop.

The constant swearing in YA is wrong for multiple reasons morally, I agree - and that's the usual perspective I've read in posts on this topic.

But from a purely writing perspective, it's lazy writing! The author has decided that emotion is too hard and has used an obscene word instead! CHARACTERIZATION is too hard - so they use a whole bundle of obscene words to give their character 'personality'!

Thank you for this excellent post, Gray - I agree with every word of it. (As you could probably tell from my mini-rant??)- Jem Jones

... Trish, you have just proven the author's point. Your comment is profanity-laden but contains no content. In fact, you said the post was 'poo', which demonstrates quite a juvenile writing style. Please come back when you're ready to have a mature discussion, and have a lovely day. :)

Way to go Jem! Trish, Gray Marie Cox is my best friend, and we are both Christian authors. We don't claim to be perfect(and a quick reminder, we're TEENAGERS). Gray is an incredible author with an incredible story. So instead of shooting Gray down, why don't you pause and try and improve your vocabulary to words that actually have some meaning? Constructive criticism is appreciated, but not hate comments. Play nice.

Incredibly written. I hate how cuss words detract from story, as a writer many times the easiest thing to do would be to dump in a cuss word but it takes a MUCH more talented writer to not and develop their story with taste and talent instead of junk.

Jem, you rock! I saw what you and Elena said above and you schooled her. Great job. I hope people learn what real dialogue is because RW is growing. No one's going to want to read trash for much longer.

Hi, Gray. I saw your post about this on Goodreads and had to come read it. I just...I love you right now. *heart eyes* You've said exactly what I feel about this issue, and said it well. I appreciate it as both a reader and writer who prefers my stories well-written and profanity-free. Thank you!

Great post! Profanity in YA is so overdone and so unnecessary. Wonder what's wrong with publishing? It's because the authors often repeat the same tropes over and over again. One of those, of course, showing "real" characters by giving them a potty-mouth.

-It's demeaning. I know potty-mouths in my secular job. To reduce their character to their three most common words is narrow and insulting. To say a young woman is defined by her *** mouth is to forget the other facets of her character.

-It's crude. The more we read about people who do that, the more likely we are to do the same. Do we really want to become the potty-mouth ourselves under stress?

There are many kids who are advanced readers and are looking for something to read next. I'm talking 8 and 9 year olds who read on a 9th grade level. It's extraordinarily hard to direct these kids to suitable books when YA is full of smut.

So true. You are spot on, my younger brother is now reading young adult, and it's really hard for us to find him good books to read that aren't Christian... so I totally know what you mean! Thank you for commenting!

This is a great take. Despite the carelessness and even arrogance that often comes with cuss words, I love how you looked at it beyond a moral standpoint. Because people will disagree there. I never thought about it as an easy out for writing, but I agree that that's how it comes across to me. And the more language there is, the less effective it is. One or two words can at least show an elevation in a character's emotions. But still. I'm a fan of passive cursing. That way I can have realistic characters while adhering to my standards and not breaching others'.

Thanks, Abigayle! Sometimes I'll let a few swear words slide pass when I'm reading, as long as they are only used to show the most necessary emotion, but not often, because I don't think it is ever really needed.

I know several other people have already said something but I need to add to it.

Both of you people should be ashamed of yourself. Maybe saying those things might make you fell better about yourselves, it gives you no right to use that kind of language or disrespect Gray. This website promotes clean writing and young teens might read that and think that it's ok to speak like that or disrespect people. I hope you guys think long and hard about what you have done and maybe you will learn something.

I absolutely agree. Curse words don't add anything to any book ever. I was especially thinking about this after reading "This Savage Song". It was pretty clean, except for a few parts where the characters used really foul words. It seemed unnecessary and instantly lowered my opinion of the book.

Thank you for writing this post. However, after considering your points, I think I respectfully disagree. I think I said on another blog post here some time ago that I believe writing conveys the human experience. Humans swear and use profanity, especially teenagers. Our hyper-swearing might not be the best part of us, but it is certainly present. I don't think this should necessarily be ignored, because censoring certain words ends up bordering on censorship. How do we define what is a cuss word and what isn't? I think that starts to get a little subjective.

I also think that showing that a character swears does show a part of their character, that they are a bit rougher on the edges. I also read about a study once that proved that people who swear sometimes actually tend to have higher IQs.

Finally, jargon changes with time, and what was not okay fifty years ago is now considered perfectly normal. I wouldn't say that an author shows laziness when they make a character swear, because that is a normal part of human life and that is what they are showing (regardless of a moral standpoint). I just feel like if books were 100% clean then they would be harder to relate to the YA audience, and wouldn't really correspond with the reality we live in.

However, I see both sides to this situation and respect your views 100%, I'd love to debate about this some more if you want to.

I do agree with you that a lot of teens swear, but there is also a good majority that doesn't, and putting swearing in books cuts that group off, meanwhile leaving out a cuss word or two doesn't offend the people who swear. And do we really need to be teaching young middle schoolers, who have just started reading young adult books that swearing is okay?

I know what you mean by censorship, and I am not for censorship. I recently just finished Eleanor and Park, and it was a good book that I wouldn't want to see banned or scorned completely because of its language.

But when it all comes down to it; I don't believe it is necessary to swear or use swear words in writing or anything else. If you wouldn't say it in front of a person interviewing you for a job, why say it anywhere else?

As for the IQ argument, I have seen studies like that, but studies are not 100% accurate. Also, most people I know who have constant potty-mouths aren't considered intelligent by most people, even if they are. Why would you want to risk first impressions for a four letter word or two?

My problem with "perfectly normal" is that I don't think this should be perfectly normal. If it is perfectly normal for strangers to shout cuss words in front of my six year old sister at a store and feel no remorse, shame on "perfectly normal".

I do get the showing of real life aspect to swearing, and I've struggled with that. But aren't books suppose to help influence our reality? If we never stepped outside of the box, how would we do that? That's just my personal thoughts.

I also see both sides, and once again I would like to thank you for your comment-you are the first pro-swearing commenter that has been respectful and kind in their argument, thank you for that. It makes me respect you and your argument a lot more. :)

Hey guys, hope you don't mind my barging in :D I just like real though provoking discussion :D

First of all - I kind of doubt swearing and IQ is directly related? I think it's rather this person who has a high IQ happens to swear xD

I get both of your points - and I can take /some/ language in the books I read, but I personally don't believe that swearing is a 'good' thing or something that I want to do. And if the books I read have a lot of such words, it does tend to rub off, you know. Which I don't want.

However, I can understand an author using /some/. I think it depends on the purpose of the author. Does the author do it purely for the reason that everyone/many people do it? Does the author do it with a purpose to show something? Is the issue of such language brought up in the book? Is it shown as right or wrong?

I mean, if someone considers it perfectly all right, I don't have much of an argument for them - just that we defer in our beliefs. I'm not going to be neutral here. I reserve the right to disagree or not read your writing ... because I don't want it to rub off. I believe that what we say reflects what is inside us. And also, if I don't write swear-words, it's because I don't want to be an unhealthy example to those who believe it is wrong?

On the issue of being real - I get you both. Like Gray, I believe that books should help influence reality. And yet, like Oakstar I don't believe reality should be ignored. You know, it really depends on your audience too? I think that we shouldn't create our own perfect fantasies, or versions of the world where no grit is present - but, to quote a friend, "we should show what it is, and then what it could be". If I write swearing into my books I want to do it in a way that reflects my belief - that it doesn't have to be present.

I know that Gray basically would be against swearing in real life or fictional life - but Oakstar, since I get your points about it in writing, I'm curious to know what you think about it in real life.

Sorry for the late reply- I've been busy with school. I really see the points you're both making! I guess it really does come down to how we feel about it in real life as well. I really had to sit down and think about my opinion on swearing in real life, and I think I've come to the conclusion (looking back on how I've always felt) that I think it's alright if it's not directed at someone or used to bring down anyone else. (For instance if someone said shoot if they stubbed their toe vs. being directly mean to someone).

One of my favourite books, The Humans by Matt Haig uses swearing when the characters are experiencing intense emotions. The swear words are used sparingly throughout the book and I think that if I do use swearing in my own books one day then that's how I'd like to use it.

And of course I want to be respectful, I appreciate the messages you are all trying to deliver through this blog and people disrespecting you for a harmless opinion are just proving all your points.

I'm writing this after midnight so I'm sorry if it isn't very clear or concise (I'm sure it's not) haha

Yes, I also see your points. In real life I am constantly surrounded by friends and people who swear constantly, and it didn't annoy me when I was younger, because I was just use to it. But now it just feels and sounds so unnecessary and crude to me.

I don't mind books that swear in moderation, such as the one in your example, although I'd rather it not have swearing. I don't think I'll ever use swearing in my books, but if I did, I would probably use it like that.

It really is a "to each their own thing". I just feel convicted that I shouldn't swear or write swear words, and I know that not everything feels the same.

I don't think swearing is needed ever, not in real life, not in fiction. Media has influence people so much, that it makes me wonder; if we switched everything around to where swearing was considered weak, could we change the social construct of society?

That's just my train of thoughts.

Thank you, this has been really interesting and enlightening. (Also you were pretty clear and concise). :)

Wow, guys! I just discovered this blog and am blown away. I appreciate seeing young women with such refreshing, conservative views out there who are also YA fiction and fantasy fans. I've been writing for a long time and often struggle with how to balance my writing with my Christian values in a world that does not often encourage or respect them. Thanks for rebelling against the cultural norms!

I'm a hundred years late, but I'm jumping in here anyway to say how much I liked this post. Great job!

A method I've used if I want to portray a character realistically (because, let's face it, so many people swear these days, it's eck)--you don't have to include the word. You can say "so-and-so spat out a curse" or some such thing. It shows your readers another realistic angle to them but is vague and short enough that your readers aren't likely to even think "oh but /which/ word did they say??" like I know I certainly do (by accident) if the word is replaced with asterisks.

I'm really enjoying reading the various posts on this website, but this has got to be one of the best I've read. I really admire your style of writing that I believe people find easy to relate with. There was no sympathy here for those who use foul language in their books, yet you remained polite, awesome!

When I write, I enjoy being clean as well. I fully agree that you can design one of the roughest characters without using profanity. It is lazy to use those things, and depicts the character(and writer) as unintelligent(I don't care if you want them to look that way, you ought to be able to do it without using coarse, derogatory and cruel language).

Thank you very much for some good perspectives. I'm always looking for new ones, especially on this topic that I debate with people too frequently(according to me, that is).